Promise
by Yukimura Akira
Summary: Oneshot. A story of a certain promise. Broken and fulfilled. I'm not good with summaries, so I hope you'll just give it a read if possible.


Disclaimer: Every time I do this I get reminded that I don't own the wonderful Haruka and Michiru and the Sailor Moon title. Yes, you heard me; I don't own any of them at all. I'm borrowing them for entertainment purposes; that's all.

Akira: I don't know what to do with this actually. I'm rather… lost. -Scratches head sheepishly- I have no idea of how to categorize this by the way. I was thinking of writing something sad, touching and teary but… I'm not really sure on how I go about it actually lol. Anyway, I hope you'll give it a read  please go easy on me again. XD oh yes, by the way, if the places in the fic somehow coincides with real life locations, do not mind them. It is just a coincidence. They are not based off any places.

_Promise_

_5__th__ Mar 2007_

_Yamada General Hospital_

_23:59:59 hours_

Beep, beep, beep. The sounds of a machine sounded in the dark room. An old woman, graced with grayed aqua colored hair lay unmoving upon her bed with her eyes half lidded.

"Ha... Ru… Ka…" she whispered breathlessly into the dark, causing the calloused hand of the man who was holding hers to tighten.

"Don't speak." The man's deep voice rang throughout the cold, dark room eerily.

The weak and sickly woman turned her head towards her husband slowly and gave him an apologetic gaze as a single tear rolled down from the corner of her ocean deep eyes, falling onto the fluffy white pillow under her head. The man looked away painfully, both angry and sad.

"Don't apologize either."

'Even now, you're still thinking about him…'

He shaped his free hand into a fist and shut his cerulean blue eyes, as creases formed on his already wrinkled forehead.

-----

_7__th__ April 1940_

_Nagoya Train Station_

_09:26:34 hours_

_Steam surrounded the platform filled with people, young and old, bidding farewells to their loved ones who were boarding the soon leaving locomotive. A sea green haired woman buried her face in the wide shoulders of a tall blond woman, unshed tears pricked at the corner of her eyes, threatening to fall if she blinked. She took in the masculine scent of her lover as she felt strong arms wrapped around her, cradling her small frame gently, her lover's face buried in her own hair. _

"_For you, I shall return, I promise. Until then, please wait for me."_

_Her lover spoke in a low tone ever-so-gently into her ears. Haruka pulled away from the embrace and looked into the bluish green eyes her lover which showed determination, sincerity, sadness, and most of all, love. _

"_Haruka…"_

"_Shush…" the blonde placed a slender finger onto the smaller woman's lips, silencing her in one motion. The thought of leaving the love of her life was heart wrenching, her chest ached painfully as she caressed the smooth, silky skin of the aqua haired beauty. She cursed in anger as she heard her name in the background, signaling that it was time. Bending down, she claimed the smaller woman's lips for her own. Michiru's grip upon her back tightened, she could feel. She relished in the moment for as long as she could before breaking the kiss reluctantly and bitterly, courtesy of her name being called again._

"_Tenou, what are you doing?! We're leaving!"_

_For the last time, they held each other for eternity and broke apart slowly. Reaching behind her neck, Michiru removed a small charm hanging from her neck and threw it over Haruka's head before placing it down onto the blonde's neck._

"_It's a safety charm, my mother's keepsake."_

"_I'll write."_

_Haruka clutched the charm in her fist and nodded stiffly at her lover. The train whistle hissed loudly as a signal for the last call and Haruka picked up her briefcase which was resting by her feet. The Japanese soldier straightened her military cap and took a step back before hastily thrusting a silver locket into the smaller woman's hands and made a dash for the leaving transport. Her boots gave off a loud 'click' as she hopped onto the train, waving at the sad aqua haired woman who stood on the platform, watching the train slowly move away from the station._

"_How did it go, Tenou-shirei? Did you give it to her?" a black haired man saluted as he sat himself across the silent commander._

_She reached her hand into her pocket and removed a small velvet box from it. She tossed the box up and caught it with her agile hand, repeating the action a couple of times before replying, "I've decided. I'll give it to her when we return. Until we return, stay alive, Kinoshita."_

_Her subordinate saluted her again and replied with a loud "ha!" before leaving the seat to join a couple of his bunkmates. She opened the box slowly, revealing a golden ring with a skillfully crafted diamond etched onto the top of the ring as she did so. As she reached her hand to the safety charm resting on her chest, the string which was attached to the charm snapped inauspiciously and she shuddered. Shaking her head, she rid her head of the morbid thoughts and focused on the matter at hand._

_She would return alive. That's a promise; not only to Michiru but herself too. _

-----

_27__th__ Feb 1941_

_Nagoya_

_11:26:50 hours_

_Days, weeks, and even months had passed since Haruka's fateful departure. _

_The young aqua haired woman hung the snow white sheets upon the clothesline, spreading them accordingly and left them to dry in the refreshing spring breeze._

"_Kaiou-san, you've got mail!"_

_The young woman turned her head at the sound of her name and removed the band that tied her hair into an elegant bun, allowing her wavy aqua tresses to cascade freely down her shoulders. With a radiant smile, she held up her dirt covered dress and ran excitedly towards the man in blue who was standing in the distance. _

_With a deep breath, he adjusted his cap, brushed off imaginary dust off his shoulders, and straightened out his mail man uniform before greeting the young woman with his best million dollar smile with hopes of winning her over. The beautiful woman smiled at him gratefully in return and waited for her letter to be handed to her. A few seconds passed, but the man made no movement to hand her the long-awaited letter._

"_Um… Ryuunosuke-san? I thought you said you have mail for me?" asked Michiru as she tilted her head to the side a little as a gesture of confusion._

"_Letter…?" the young man stated in a dazed manner as he stared at the beautiful girl who stood right in front of her. Realization dawned on him finally when he broke out of his trance and stammered, "O-Oh! Ah, yes, a letter, you say?"_

_He scratched his cheek with his index finger nervously and fumbled the sling bag behind him for a letter meant for her. The raven haired man was acting weird as usual, she concluded as she watched the man search the bag for her mail._

"_Ah, there, there you go," he glanced at the addresser's name briefly and placed the dirty letter into her hands. He frowned when her happy expression changed into a disappointed one after reading the name of the addresser. _

"_Kaiou-san, if you don't mind me asking…" the man started, rubbing the back of his neck to ease his anxiety._

_Michiru recovered almost magically, a beam gracing her face as she looked at the young man in his blue eyes questioningly._

"_What is it, Ryuunosuke-san?"_

"_Whose letter are you waiting for?"_

"_I…" she paused in her words, contemplating whether to tell him or not. The bittersweet memories at the platform that day went gushing into her brain as she turned away from the concerned man, her hand unconsciously searching for the locket which held joyful memories of her lover and her._

"_Kaiou-san?" a strong hand found a place on her shoulder and squeezed it gently, offering whatever comfort he could. She wiped her eyes hastily and turned back to face the man before her, giving him a small smile as thanks for his effort._

"_I'm fine, thank you. I am waiting for a letter from someone who is very important to me," she fiddled with the locket in her hands and opened it, showing the man an image of herself standing beside a tall blond soldier dressed in the military uniform, smiling gently at the camera with joy glimmering in her eyes. The tall blond man had his arm around her small frame; a wide grin of his own accentuated his handsome features, and the look of happiness shone unmistakably in his sharp eyes. _

"_That's… him?" Ryuunosuke started uncomfortably, hiding the tone of disappointment in his voice as he watched the younger woman glow with happiness at the mention of her lover._

"_Yes, that's… he-him," she caught herself before revealing the real gender of Haruka who was a soldier, a commander no less, of the imperial army under command of Emperor Showa, Hirohito._

"_I see… I guess I shouldn't bother you any longer; I've got lots of mail to deliver today. I'll see you around, Kaiou-san," the man waved to the beautiful woman and pedaled away quickly. _

'_Haruka… I miss you…' Michiru held the letter close to her heart and looked up into the clear blue skies. Somehow, the wind accompanying the passing clouds reminded her greatly of Haruka._

-----

_11__th__ Mar 1941_

_ Venue: Unknown_

_Time: Unknown _

'_I knew this was coming… Kinoshita, you better get home alive, or I'll haunt you forever if I die here,' Haruka laughed bitterly at her own joke and looked up._

_Bound to a chair, the tall and proud Japanese commander sat silently, glaring at her captors with hatred. Blood solidified at the corner of her bruised lip, her blond hair was disheveled and dirty; her uniform was badly torn and dyed with dried blood._

"_Well, well, well, Commander Tenou, is it? Or should I address you this way, Tenou-shirei?" the cold voice of a Chinese man rang in her ears, his rotten breath which smelled of liquor and meat, along with the choking smell of smoke puffed in her bloodied face. _

"_I have no interest of talking to someone as lowly-ranked as you are, Corporal Yang," Haruka spat in his face, earning a kick to her abdomen and a punch across her already bruised eye. Without warning, the Chinese man removed a dagger from his belt and stabbed the Japanese in her thigh, earning a loud cry of pain from her as blood gushed out from the wound, soaking the khaki uniform with more blood._

"_Is that so, Tenou-shirei?" the man spoke again in Japanese and ripped the blade out of her wound and licked the blade in a slow motion sickeningly._

"_Damn right, I will not dignify your presence with my words," she retorted defiantly, unwilling to relent to the numbing pain in her thigh._

"_If that's the way you want it, fine by me. Too bad, Tenou-shirei, that was your last chance to redeem yourself," said the man as he pointed the barrel of his pistol to her temple._

_She closed her eyes in anticipation and thought to herself, 'Warugatta, Michiru.'_

-----

_In the dead silence of the night, the aqua haired beauty jerked awake from her sleep, tears cascaded down her beautiful face uncontrollably._

-----

_21__st__ Jan 1946_

_Nagoya Train Station_

_10:34:20 hours_

_She stood in the sea of strangers, watching them embrace their loved ones as they alighted from the steam locomotive. _

"_Excuse me, but are you Kaiou Michiru-san?" _

_She whipped her head back and spun around quickly, meeting a brown eyed stranger in the eyes. The man was dressed in a tattered military uniform, and his jet black hair was messy. What bothered her was not the way he was dressed and the way he looked but the grim expression on his face and the sadness that clouded his hazel brown eyes._

"_Yes, my name is Kaiou Michiru. May I help you?"_

_The man shifted uncomfortably, as if debating within himself whether to go on with the conversation or to lie to the ocean eyed woman in front of him. _

"_Sir…?" asked Michiru, uncertainty evident in her quavering voice. She had the feeling that whatever the man was going to say to her was not good news. _

_Instead of speaking with words, he carefully removed a small velvet box from his pocket with a small note attached to it and handed them to her along with a familiar looking safety charm caked with dried mud. _

"_I'm sorry."_

_With that, he walked away from the weakened woman and disappeared into the crowd, never appearing in front of her ever again. _

_Reality hit her square in the face as she fell to her knees in despair, and sobbed silently into her hands, holding the items she received protectively in her arms._

'_Haruka… you idiot, you broke your promise…'_

-----

_6__th__ Mar 2007_

_Yamada General Hospital_

_00:00:01 hours_

"Ryuu-san…" she began weakly, gaining the attention of her cerulean eyed husband.

"Don't say it, Michiru-san," he knew what was coming; he just couldn't bear to listen to it after all.

She closed her ocean eyes and listened to a faint but gentle voice calling out to her.

'Haruka… Is that you? Have you come for me at last?'

The frail woman opened her eyes as the faint outline of her one and only love appeared beside her, beckoning for her to follow her.

'Thank you for coming, Haruka. This is the best birthday present I've ever received.'

"I'm sorry…" she raised her frail, wrinkled hand to caress the face of her husband before letting her hand fall back dead onto the bed, a contented smile appeared on her aged features as she slowly drifted away from the living world.

An old crumpled note fell onto the floor in silence.

Letting go of his wife's aged hand, he picked up the note and read it aloud.

_I'll come for you. It's a promise._

_Fin._

So, before any of you get confused, I'm going to explain two Japanese terms I used in the fic.

Shirei – Commander

Warugatta – It's an apology. It can mean either 'sorry' or 'my bad'. In this case, I meant it as a sorry.

Akira: Well, there you go. It's the end, lol. I know it's short but… in the end, I wasn't really able to pull out the touching, teary and sad thing. Well, damn it, lol. Kind of depressing, I know. This is the best I can do for now. I may or may not be revising this. It all depends on my mood XD okay; I know that's selfish but… yeah. So I'll see you. Thank you so much for reading this. I hope I'll at least get a review of two for this lol. It motivates, you know? XD


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